For one Navy veteran, receiving the medals he earned during WWII came as a complete, but pleasant, surprise.
John Luczka, an 88-year-old resident at Ingersoll Place Assisted Living, received three medals and two pins he should have received decades ago after serving as a tail gunner protecting American allies during WWII. A reception was held on Thursday, Sept. 22, with family and friends as Luczka shared many smiles for medals he thought he’d never receive. U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko’s Office worked to secure the medals after Luczka’s niece, Linda Novak, contacted Tonko asking for help.
“My Uncle, when he first came into the assisted living, he had said to me ‘I was in the Navy, but I never got my medals.’ … so I said ‘Okay, I’ll see what we can do,’” said Novak. “He is just thrilled with the fact that he got them.”
Luczka was excited he’d finally received his medals and he also happened to save room for some of the American flag decorated cake, which was served during his celebration.
“I wasn’t expecting anything like this … it was a complete surprise,” said Luczka. “I had a pretty big lunch … so I skipped dinner tonight and I’m glad I did, because I wouldn’t be able to [eat some cake].”
The process of getting the medals took a couple of months to complete, said Novak, but she had his discharge papers and necessary documents, which made it easier to obtain the medals. The three medals he received were for Navy Good Conduct, WII Victory and American Campaign; also the two buttons were for Navy Discharge and Honorable Service.
Luczka even shared one of his war stories during the event.
“We were at least half way to England … when we came upon this Italian submarine on the surface and most of the crew were on deck,” he said. “We thought that was one of the enemies, so we opened our bomb bays and went in on them.”
He said the Italians then waved a white flag and surrendered, seeing the bomb bay doors open on the plane circling the submarine, but the captain of the submarine and the first pilot spoke to each other on the radio. He said the submarine’s engine was dead and a destroyer was called in to pick up the crew from the submarine.
Receiving the medals, Luczka said, “means that my service was appreciated.”
Novak was also pleased she could get her uncle, who grew up in Niskayuna on his parents farm, the medals he earned.
“I was so happy and so excited,” she said. “For tonight, I was probably one of the most excited persons, because I knew how happy he was going to be. They were well deserved and for not to be able to have them I wanted to make sure he got them before anything happened to him.”
At one point, after the celebration started to calm down, Luczka said to a friend, “I’ve got to stop the tears from coming into my eyes.”
Cora Schroeter, constituent representative from Tonko’s office, said getting veterans their medals is something he has done before and tries to assist in whenever he can help.
Unfortunately, not receiving due medals isn’t unheard of.
“Sometimes because of the turmoil of the time and when they are discharged from service … sometimes it gets overlooked,” said Schroeter.
She said for anyone interested in getting due medals it is important to seek out their representative to ease the process along.
“Sometimes these medals are difficult to get,” she said.
Now, Luczka said he would keep the medals on display in his room at Ingersoll, because doesn’t want to put them away in a drawer after the long wait to receive them.
“I certainly don’t intend to hide them someplace now that I’ve waited all these years for them,” he said.